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August 16, 2018 at 4:46 pm
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said on Wednesday its investigation into one of the bloodiest incidents of the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip found no criminal wrongdoing by Israeli forces and there were no grounds to prosecute any troops.
The announcement drew condemnations from Palestinians and human rights advocates, who accused the military of a whitewash.
The investigation focused on an Aug. 1, 2014, battle in the southern Gaza town of Rafah that erupted after an Israeli military officer was feared abducted by Palestinian militants during a cease-fire. Over 110 Palestinians were killed in daylong fighting, and Palestinian witnesses had complained of heavy and indiscriminate shelling by Israeli forces.
Following what it called a comprehensive investigation, the army said its...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:40 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Newspapers from Maine to Hawaii pushed back against President Donald Trump's attacks on "fake news" with a coordinated series of editorials in defense of a free press on Thursday — and, not surprisingly, Trump didn't take it silently.
The campaign was set in motion by an editor at the Boston Globe, which argued in its own editorial that Trump's label of the media as the enemy of the people "is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries."
Trump denounced the effort on Twitter, saying the Globe was in collusion with other newspapers.
"There is nothing that I would want more for our country than true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS," the president typed. "The fact is that the press is FREE to write and s...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:40 pm
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Jurors began their deliberations Thursday in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who prosecutors say earned $60 million advising Russia-backed politicians in Ukraine, hid much of it from the IRS and then lied to banks to get loans when the money dried up.
Manafort’s defense countered that he wasn’t culpable because he left the particulars of his finances to others.
The financial fraud trial calls on the dozen jurors to follow the complexities of foreign bank accounts and shell companies, loan regulations and tax rules. It exposed details about the lavish lifestyle of the onetime political insider, including a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich leather and $900,000 spent at a boutique retailer in New York paid via international w...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Veterans Day military parade ordered up by President Donald Trump would cost about $92 million, U.S. officials said Thursday, citing preliminary estimates more than three times the price first suggested by the White House.
According to the officials, roughly $50 million would cover Pentagon costs for aircraft, equipment, personnel and other support for the November parade in Washington. The remainder would be borne by other agencies and largely involve security costs. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss early planning estimates that have not yet been finalized or released publicly.
Officials said the plans have not yet been approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
The parade’s cost has become a politically charged issue, particular...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee is challenging former CIA Director John Brennan's claim that President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia.
After Trump yanked Brennan's security clearance, Brennan said Trump's "claims of no collusion" are "hogwash."
Sen. Richard Burr said Thursday that Brennan is purporting to know — as fact — that the Trump campaign colluded with a foreign power.
Burr says if the claim is based on intelligence Brennan received while CIA director, it should have been included in the 2017 U.S. intelligence assessment of Russian meddling in the election. If it's based on intelligence Brennan has seen since leaving the CIA, Burr says that's an intelligence breach.
Burr ...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:38 pm
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has changed a help page that erroneously described how its “Location History” setting works, clarifying for users that it still tracks their location even if they turn the setting off.
The change comes days after an Associated Press investigation revealed that several Google apps and websites store user location even if users have turned off Location History.
The page now states: “This setting does not affect other location services on your device” and acknowledges that “some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps.”
Previously, the page had stated that “with Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”
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August 16, 2018 at 4:27 pm
Google is crafting a search engine that would meet China’s draconian censorship rules, a company employee told AFP on Thursday, in a move decried by human rights activists.
Google withdrew its search engine from China eight years ago due to censorship and hacking but it is now working on a project for the country code named “Dragonfly”, the employee said on condition of anonymity.
The search project — which works like a filter that sorts out certain topics — can be tested within the company’s internal networks, the source said.
Read more at i24NEWS.
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August 16, 2018 at 4:25 pm
The sha’ilos I’ve received are hair-raising, shocking and sad.
The Yetzer Hara is out of control. Yidden from every background, spanning the entire gamut, from Chassidish to Yeshivish to Modern to secular are facing unparalleled temptation. The Yetzer Hara has cast its tentacles wide and is ravaging and consuming the finest in Klal Yisroel.
What is going on? Why is this happening now?
It is mentioned in Sifrei Kabbalah that our entire generation may be a Gilgal of a past generation, such as the generation that lived at the close of the first Beis Hamikdash, which succumbed to unprecedented immoral sins. As the last generation before the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash, it is cri...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:19 pm
Mark Levin weighs in on ‘Hannity’ after Trump revokes John Brennan’s security clearance.
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August 16, 2018 at 4:19 pm
The Hamas terror organization has decried any religious or historical connection between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel.
Hamas’ Falestine newspaper on Saturday will publish a special edition dealing with the Kosel, which is called Kotel Al-Buraq in Arabic. It will discuss the Wall’s geography, which according to Falestine is “the first line of defense for Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Kosel is the last remnant of the Bayis Sheini, which was destroyed around 70 years into the non Jewish calendar. Islam was founded about 600 years later. Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the Har Habayis in 705 CE.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
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August 16, 2018 at 4:12 pm
Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem were listed in the top 100 universities in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, otherwise known as the Shanghai Ranking.
Technion, which was in the 93rd spot last year, shot up to the 77th spot among universities across the globe. Hebrew University, which did not make the list last year, reached the 95th slot.
The Shanghai Ranking list was topped by Harvard University, followed by Stanford, Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of California at Berkeley, Princeton, Oxford, Columbia University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Chicago.
The rankings factor in the number of Nobel Prize winners emanating from the univer...
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August 16, 2018 at 4:10 pm
As more people are hospitalized with leptospirosis, a potentially fatal bacterial disease that is transmitted via animal urine, Israeli health officials are considering making more rivers and streams in the Golan Heights off-limits to the public, possibly including the Jordan River.
Some 60 people have been hospitalized with the infection, which typically presents with flu-like symptoms, but can develop complications, including liver and kidney problems, and meningitis.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has already warned the public not to swim in the popular Zavitan, Zaki, Yehudia and Meshushim streams until further notice.
According to the deputy director general of the Health Ministry Professor Itamar Grotto in an interview with Ynet news, the Hasbani and Dan rivers, as well as t...
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August 16, 2018 at 3:50 pm
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Wednesday threatened to remove the rabbinate’s monopoly on kashrus unless it end the practice wherein businesses pay directly for inspectors to approve their products, Chadashot news reported, as per Times of Israel.
In May 2017, the High Court instructed the Chief Rabbinate to prepare an alternative system by June this year, and that it be ready no later than the beginning of September.The rabbinate has not yet complied with the court’s ruling, Chadashot reported, and Mandelblit warned that it will not be possible to receive an extension beyond the end of this month.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Finance Minister Moshe Kachlon and Religious Services Minister David Azulai, Mandelblit said tha...
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August 16, 2018 at 3:48 pm
Two Monday Downpours Lead to Overflows
Two downpours on Monday, Aug. 20, resulted in approximately 592,000 gallons of stormwater mixed with sewer water spilling from the sewer system into city waterways. The overnight rain Monday morning resulted in 475,000 gallons escaping from structured overflows, while another 117,000 gallons spilled from structured overflows in the early evening.
The largest single overflow was 208,000 gallons early in the morning from a structured overflow at 1901 Falls Road.
These structured overflow locations were designed as part of Baltimore’s sewer system more than 100 years ago to alleviate the volume when stormwater infiltrates into the sewer pipes. DPW is in the process of eliminating these structures.
The Baltimore City Health Department and the Ma...
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August 16, 2018 at 3:25 pm
Since the swim season began on March 17, 49 people have drowned in Israel’s beaches, pools, and other water sources. Thirteen of the casualties were children under the age of 10.
In addition to drownings, Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics around Israel provided life-saving treatment to 152 near-drowning victims, including seven who were critically injured and required CPR, five who were in serious condition, 17 who were in moderate condition, and 123 who had suffered light injuries. All of the near-drowning victims were transferred to hospitals.
While nearly 50 of the incidents occurred in pools, a bulk of the water based injuries happened in larger bodies of water, with 109 people pulled from the Mediterranean Sea and many more pulled from the Kinneret, Yam Hamelech, Eilat, t...
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August 16, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Washington - U.S. President Donald Trump praised the strength of the U.S. dollar on Thursday after the greenback reached a 14-month high against a broad basket of other currencies a day earlier.
“Money is pouring into our cherished DOLLAR like rarely before,” Trump wrote on Twitter, citing the strength of the U.S. economy.
The U.S. economy grew at a 4.1 percent annualized rate in the April-June period, nearly double the 2.2 percent rate in the first quarter. Growth in the July-September period is forecast to top 3 percent.
Contributing to the strength of the dollar has been the collapse of the Turkish lira, which has led in recent days to flows into the dollar, considered by investors to be a safe haven.
In an interview on Thursday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow...
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August 16, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Miami, FL - New videos show construction workers laboring on a pedestrian bridge in Florida shortly before it collapses, killing six people.
The time-lapse video released Wednesday by Florida International University shows the four construction workers using a crane hoist to perform work on the bridge.
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board suggests investigators are focused on cracks in the south and north ends of the bridge near a Miami-area university campus.
The cracks were discovered in the days before the March 15 collapse, which killed a bridge worker and five people in vehicles crushed by the falling structure.
The bridge was to have spanned a busy highway and canal and connected Florida International University’s campus to the neighboring comm...
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August 16, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Washington - Former CIA Director John Brennan said Thursday that President Donald Trump yanked his security clearance because his campaign colluded with the Russians to sway the 2016 election and is now desperate to end the special counsel’s investigation.
In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Brennan cites press reports and Trump’s own goading of Russia during the campaign to find Democrat Hillary Clinton’s missing emails.
Trump himself drew a direct connection between the revocation of Brennan’s clearance and the Russia probe, telling The Wall Street Journal the investigation is a “sham,” and “these people led it!”
“So I think it’s something that had to be done,” Trump said.
Brennan wrote that Trump’s claims...
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August 16, 2018 at 12:12 pm
London - A doctor who worked as a physician to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has been killed after colliding with a truck as he cycled through central London.
Peter Fisher, 67, was riding through the High Holborn area on Wednesday morning when the collision occurred. Police said he had died at the scene.
“We are all deeply shocked and saddened to learn that Dr Peter Fisher tragically died in a road traffic accident yesterday,” Gill Gaskin, medical director at University College London Hospitals (UCLH), said in a statement on Thursday.
“Peter was director of research at UCLH’s Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM), and physician to Her Majesty The Queen.”
Buckingham Palace said the queen had been informed of his death.
The London Evening ...
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August 16, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Scottsdale, AZ - Kroger will begin testing grocery deliveries using driverless cars outside of Phoenix.
The biggest U.S. grocery chain said the project will begin Thursday in Scottsdale at a Fry’s supermarket, which is owned by Kroger.
Same-day or next-day delivery orders can be made online or via a mobile app.
The Toyota Prius will be used for the deliveries, manned by a human to monitor its performance. During phase two in the fall, deliveries will be made by a completely autonomous vehicle, called an R1, with no human aboard.
Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, is partnering with Nuro, a Silicon Valley startup founded by two engineers who worked on autonomous vehicles at Google.
That Google project is called Waymo, which started its own pilot program last month at Walmart stores...
